The Miami Dolphins still ultimately hold their own destiny in their hands, even after a Week 14 slate that saw every break in the book work against the team. Miami hoped to secure an upset win over the Kansas City Chiefs to move to 9-4 on the season. Close, but no cigar. The Dolphins hoped the Cleveland Browns would do them a solid and work through the Baltimore Ravens to build Miami a buffer between themselves and the other AFC playoff hopefuls. Also close, but no cigar. The Dolphins hoped Pittsburgh would drop the Buffalo Bills to keep Miami’s AFC East title hopes alive. It didn’t happen.
In a season that has offered plenty of good for Miami, Week 14 is low on the list.
But there’s plenty of silver linings to be had. Tua Tagovailoa’s play against the Chiefs would set Miami up for victories against most teams on any given Sunday. The Dolphins defense created a season-high four turnovers for the Chiefs’ offense, proving that their strength as a team can be effective against anyone.
But the most under the radar silver lining falls with the Cleveland Browns’ loss to the Ravens. That loss hurt Miami in putting the math against the Dolphins, but it did position the Dolphins to potentially pass the Cleveland Browns in the standings by the end of the season instead of staving off the Baltimore Ravens. Cleveland currently sits at 9-4 and hasn’t made the postseason in seventeen seasons. If there was ever a team that would be more snakebitten than Miami to see a playoff berth slip away, this would be the team.
The Dolphins must go +1 in the win column over the Browns over the next three weeks to see tiebreakers come into play; but it isn’t impossible if the Dolphins scratch out two wins in their final three games. Considering the Bills are likely to have their division title hopes wrapped up ahead of Week 17, Miami may be getting a junior varsity Bills squad at the end of the season — which puts Miami in prime position to get at least two more wins.
We can’t say the Dolphins will definitely beat the Patriots on Sunday. They’ve already lost one to the Patriots this season. But we can say that between New England and Las Vegas, Miami is likely to find a way to win one of them based on the resume the team has put on display thus far this season.
Of course, all of this speculation could be for nothing if Miami actually runs the table — in that case they’ll be in the postseason no matter what. And if that materializes, they’ll likely be passing the Browns along the way, who must face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17. Considering Cleveland has beaten Pittsburgh just three times in the past decade and lost 38-7 the first time around this season, Miami should have the Browns firmly in their crosshairs.